Tag: detroit red wings

Become An Everydayer

On By Robert EvenhouseIn The Writing Life2 Comments

I love hockey. Not just watching it on TV, but reading about it on obscure blogs, watching Youtube clips in the offseason, listening to sports talk radio, and rehashing stories with friends at work. It’s a passion and I’m an evangelist.

I don’t love it for the fighting, but the grit. When a player battles through a second degree separated shoulder, a broken foot, and a broken finger simultaneously, all for the logo on their sweater and the city they represent, I wonder, how do they do that? Of course they are paid millions of dollars for this, but wouldn’t you throw in the towel at that point? They’ll make their money whether they play or not.

This grit can be explained in a million ways but for those unfamiliar with this glorious game, one of the best and grammatically incorrect is “An Everydayer”. This is a term I hear all the time from the coach of the Detroit Red Wings, Mike Babcock.

What does it mean? That you show up every day and work hard. Whether you’re a professional banker or a professional toilet cleaner, you work hard in everything you do. Period. It’s a cemented mindset that does not change, but this is not from hard headedness, it’s fueled by passion.

I am a firm believer that everything in your life builds upon everything else. If you display patience at home with a troubled teen, chances are that will strengthen your patience for a work situation. If you work hard at work, you’ll have a better chance at working hard as a parent and so forth.

If you are stuck today in anything – your novel, your job, your website – know that those who succeed show up everyday.

They are Everydayers.

What are you?

Cheers,

Bob

Day 4 of 500 Words – Writing Exercise

On By Robert EvenhouseIn The Writing LifeLeave a comment

As many of you know, I love hockey. Congratulations to the Detroit Red Wings for winning last night. Three more to go to take the quarterfinal series. Keep it up boys!

Yesterday, after the game I sat down at the computer. It had been a very long week. Travel for work, Clara was teething, and the last three days of the week I sputtered along on four to five hours of broken sleep a night.

Needless to say it was hard to sit down at the computer and get my 500 words. My body had no intention of following through and after arguing with myself and a little encouragement from my wife, I was able to complete the 500 words a little after midnight.

I played hockey for most of my life and there were some games that I scored goals and played fairly well. There

Me pretending to be an ice hockey player

were also other games where nothing went right. Most of the time it went well because I practiced and thought about strategies against the other team. It went poorly for the exact opposite reasons. I was working and could not practice, I did not take the time to think about match ups and the opposing goaltender.

This time, writing was just an exercise. I did not have a breakthrough. I do not have piles of pages to report. I did however continue the practice of writing, which will help if I have a plan the next time I sit down at the page.

Until tomorrow, keep writing.

Cheers,

Bob